


Buoyancy

by Keiko Kirin (sakana17)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-08-07
Updated: 2002-08-07
Packaged: 2017-10-03 18:36:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakana17/pseuds/Keiko%20Kirin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack tries to discover Daniel's secret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Buoyancy

**Author's Note:**

> A multitude of thanks to Thevetia: for beta reading, for hand-holding, for arguing that there is room for fluff.

_Daniel's getting laid._

The thought came with swift, surprising accuracy. Jack wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew. Some sixth sense, male intuition, some revealing sign -- something gave it away. Jack's first reaction was _Good for him_. Anything to get Daniel out of his shell had to be a good thing. Anything to stop Daniel from living inside his brain all the time.

His second reaction, which began forming the next day while he sat across from Daniel in the mess and watched Daniel scarf down a turkey sandwich, was intense curiosity. Who was she? Where did she come from? What did she look like? How had they met? Was it serious? Had to be, he thought. Everything was serious with Daniel.

Jack sat back and tapped the table. Daniel, who was simultaneously chewing, reading, and taking notes, glanced up, stared pointedly at Jack's tapping fingers and managed to convey annoyance just from the way he swallowed. Jack spread his fingers and stilled them, and went back to this idea: Was everything serious with Daniel?

He thought so, but he didn't want to be unfair. It wasn't that Daniel couldn't be fun -- well, as fun as any of them, for whatever that was worth -- but even Daniel's fun seemed rooted in something serious. He hoped whoever the mystery woman was she was seeing another side of Daniel, one that wouldn't scare her off.

And here was where he should stop thinking about this topic, Jack decided, out of courtesy for Daniel. If Daniel didn't want to tell Jack about her, that was his prerogative. Jack could understand and respect the need for privacy.

He sat forward and eyed Daniel's untouched side of cole slaw. "You going to eat that?" he asked as he tapped the side of the plate.

Daniel flicked him a glance over the rims of his glasses. "Help yourself." He went back to scribbling notes.

Jack picked at the cole slaw and wondered if this was what Daniel was like on dates: preoccupied with whatever was going on inside his head. He hoped the mystery woman was patient.

Or maybe they didn't go on dates. Jack swallowed a bite of cole slaw and glanced at Daniel. Daniel was getting laid. Maybe this wasn't a go-out-on-dates relationship.

The thought surprised him as he untangled it further. Everything was serious with Daniel, so a sex-only relationship with Daniel would have to be pretty intense. He eyed Daniel, watched his jaw work as he chewed, and for a brief moment imagined Daniel at the height of passion, rough and unleashed.

Jack dropped his fork.

Daniel glanced at him. "Are you doing that on purpose because I'm reading?" he asked.

"What?" Jack sat back, picked up a napkin from the table and fidgeted with it.

"Making noise. Staring at me. Distracting me."

"I didn't realize I was," Jack said. "Distracting you, I mean."

Daniel gave him a steady look, then went back to his reading. Without looking up, he said, "You have a knack for it." He sounded forgiving, as if he'd made peace with this flaw in Jack's character long ago.

Jack twisted the napkin, dropped it on the table, and forced his thoughts to another topic. What had today's dessert special been?

\-----

_Daniel's getting laid._

The thought followed him like a dog at his heels, demanding attention. It was curiosity, he told himself. Natural curiosity. Daniel was his friend, and of course Jack would want to know about the lady friends in Daniel's life. So, in a way, this preoccupation with Daniel's romantic adventures was all Daniel's fault for not telling him about it. It was the mystery of it that kept Jack wondering.

It was Daniel's silence on the matter that convinced Jack his guess about an intense sexual relationship was right. If Daniel was dating and falling in love with, say, a potential wife, why wouldn't he tell Jack about her? But a lover... Daniel wasn't the type to engage in locker room talk.

This line of thought only intensified Jack's curiosity about Mystery Gal. What sort of woman would have such a hold on Daniel? His mind kept going to strange places, conjuring up dark-haired femmes fatales in leather and satin. Because, he realized, he'd never seen Daniel pursue a woman before. He was usually on the receiving end of the pursuit. Oh, sure, he'd flirted with Ke'ra, but that had been Daniel Trying Hard, determined not to let grief halt his life.

What was Daniel like in pursuit mode, he wondered one afternoon as he sat on a fallen log on P6R-585 and watched Daniel crouch in front of a moss-covered obelisk and run his fingers over the shallow impressions in the stone. Well, this was Daniel in pursuit mode, more or less. Chasing knowledge and discovery. Stubbornly following every tiny lead until he found what he wanted.

Maybe Daniel had found what he wanted with Mystery Gal, Jack thought. He watched Daniel pick moss away from the surface of the stone and felt inexplicably sad.

Jack shifted and stretched his legs out, straightening his knees. There were flowers growing in the grass next to the log. They were bright yellow and reminded Jack of dandelions. He plucked one and sniffed it. No smell. He twirled it around by the stem while Daniel opened his notebook and jotted down notes.

"What's it say? Anything good?"

Daniel looked up. "It's a fable."

"How can you be so sure?" Not that Jack doubted Daniel was right, but he felt it was his duty to know why Daniel was right.

Daniel pointed at the obelisk. "Well, because right here at the top, it says, 'The Fable of the Man with Two Horses.' Or it could be 'two kneecaps,' but in context, I think 'horses' makes more sense."

Jack pointed the dandelion at him. "Now, see? How can you tell, with fables? That's the problem with them. It's always something unlikely, just to get the point across. Why can't they can't come out and say, 'Slow and steady wins the race,' or 'Don't eat all the grapes'? Why do they have to drag foxes and hares into it?"

Daniel was scribbling something in his notebook. He glanced over. "Because then it wouldn't be a fable?"

He went back to writing out the inscriptions from the obelisk. Jack watched him carefully copying each line. When he neared the end, Jack said, "Let me guess. The moral is: get a bigger shovel."

Daniel shot him a look, but he saw Daniel smile a little as he went back to his notes. Jack shifted again and tossed the dandelion at his back, missing by a few inches. He tapped his P-90 restlessly, waiting for Daniel to finish. Daniel reached behind his back without looking up from what he was writing, fumbled in the grass, found the flower, and tossed it back, also missing by a few inches. Jack smiled to himself. They still had this. They could still be on the same page sometimes, even when Daniel was making fables out of obelisks.

\-----

_Daniel's getting laid. _

And by now Jack was afraid he was jealous. Jealous? No, no-- _envious_. How else to explain his total preoccupation?

It made sense for him to be envious. He certainly wasn't getting any. The last had been Laira, and while the sex had been sweet, the emotional demands had been too heavy. Once upon a time he could've given her his body and not cared that he hadn't given her his heart, but he'd changed since then. Grown up a little.

And now he was feeling his age, if not older, imagining Daniel in some super-secret series of orgiastic sex with a mysterious hot babe. How in the hell had Daniel met her? When had he had the time?

Downtime. Jack cursed himself for not insisting they keep up the chess game, for not nagging Daniel to go on that fishing trip, for not claiming Daniel's spare time for himself.

Okay. That was taking things too far. Into crazed, obsessed stalker land. There had to be a middle ground, somewhere between obsession and laid-back laissez faire. Before he lost Daniel entirely.

Lost Daniel? Of whom was he jealous? Daniel or Mystery Gal?

Of Daniel, Jack told himself firmly as he changed clothes one evening, standing in the middle of his bedroom. He was _envious_ of Daniel. And it was because Jack didn't get out enough, had fallen into a rut that he justified by arguing that his working life was too demanding. He needed peace and comfort when he wasn't actively saving the world. But peace and comfort didn't have to mean lonely nights with two-day rentals from Blockbuster.

Jack ran a comb through his hair and stood back, looking into the mirror. He looked okay, he guessed. Presentable. He tossed the comb onto the dresser and shrugged into his black leather jacket. He straightened the sleeves and looked again. Not exactly the fuck-me look. What did Daniel wear when he went out? What had he worn to attract Mystery Gal? Couldn't have been any of his dorky checked shirts. Maybe the tweed jacket? He looked like a virgin in the tweed. That might attract some dragon lady on the prowl for new blood.

Jack looked like... Well, he wasn't sure he knew. He was aiming for fun and easygoing and not as old as he appeared to be.

Uncharacteristically, Teal'c was late. Jack paced the corridor in front of Teal'c's quarters, checking his watch. And resisted the belief that every passing airman was looking at his civilian clothes and concluding Colonel O'Neill was on a mission to get laid.

Just as Jack was about to open the door and haul Teal'c out, Carter walked by. She paused and looked at him. "Colonel." She smiled brightly.

"Major." Jack slid his hands in his jacket pockets and rocked on his feet. "Just waiting for Teal'c."

Carter nodded and clasped her hands behind her back. Jack took in her black t-shirt and BDUs. He raised an eyebrow. "You're not working, are you, Carter?"

Carter's smile wavered and took on a tinge of falseness. "Oh no, sir. It's not work."

That meant it was geek stuff. Reactors and simulations and all her astrophysical toys. Jack had the impulse to invite her to come with them, just to make sure she'd follow his standing order to get a life, but he remembered his ultimate goal.

"Ah."

He took another look at her. She'd been attracted to him once. He wasn't supposed to notice, just as she wasn't supposed to be attracted. But he'd noticed it enough to know when the attraction stopped, and he'd never figured out why.

He frowned a little. The door behind him opened and he glanced back at Teal'c, sedately dressed in a nice dark suit.

"Where are you two going?" Carter asked, looking Teal'c over.

"Oh, just out," Jack said. "And we're late, so..." He was already heading for the elevators. "Have fun, Carter," he called back to her. "That's an order."

The drive to Denver was long enough for Jack to have second thoughts. What was he doing? This was crazy. And dragging poor Teal'c along just because he needed the company in case he struck out. This was really pathetic.

"You are very quiet this evening, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"Yeah, I was just thinking. Maybe we should turn around and go back."

Teal'c said nothing, but Jack was sure he'd raised one eyebrow in that certain way.

"I mean, we can do this any time."

"Indeed we cannot," Teal'c said. "Most of our time is devoted to fighting the Goa'uld."

"Any time we have leave." Ah hell. It was easier to keep driving than to try and talk about this with Teal'c. "Forget it."

Jack had overheard enough conversations on the base to know the current hot spots. He also knew all the cheap pick-up joints in Colorado Springs, but that was too close to home. He wasn't sure a hot spot was really what he was looking for, either, but it was a place to start.

First hot spot: Scratch that one off the list. None of the people standing outside trying to get in looked over 18. And the music spilling from the doorway was deafening even out here.

Second hot spot: The two neckless bouncers glared at Teal'c and looked like they had something to prove. Teal'c impassively stared at them, hands clasped behind his back. Jack urged him along and kept going. Another no.

The third hot spot was having co-ed wet t-shirt night, and as they approached four frat types stumbled out the door and one threw up all over a girl waiting to get in with her boyfriend. There the list ended, so Jack steered around the corner, found a normal-looking sports bar, and fled into the relative quiet of six TV sets all set to different channels.

Teal'c sipped his ice water and watched golf. "Are you searching for something, O'Neill?" he asked.

"Yes." Jack stared into his beer. "No."

"I see."

Jack took a slow drink and glanced at the bar menu. At least they could have dinner. Wouldn't be a total waste of an evening.

Halfway through the buffalo wings, Jack noticed the girls across the bar. The exotic-looking dark-haired one was definitely staring at him. He casually glanced over his shoulder. Nope, no one behind him. He made eye contact with the girl. She smiled. He smiled back. She whispered to her girlfriend. He pretended to watch the NASCAR race. Okay, maybe this could work.

"O'Neill," said Teal'c. "I believe the young woman over there wants to initiate contact with you."

Jack cocked an eyebrow and gave Teal'c a sidelong glance. "'Initiate contact?'"

"Indeed. She comes our way."

Jack looked past Teal'c, and sure enough, there was the cute dark-haired girl. All of 5'3" and 90 pounds, he guessed, and dressed in low-waisted jeans and a yellow top which exposed her midriff.

She smiled at him, teeth dazzlingly white and straight. "Are you Jack O'Neill?"

Jack stared at her. "Uh, yeah."

"Ohmygod!" she squealed, and clasped her hands over her mouth. "I thought it was you."

Jack frowned and exchanged a look with Teal'c. The girl calmed down and said, grinning, "You don't remember me. I'm Jackie Murchison."

Jack stared at her blankly. Murchison... "Dave's daughter?" he asked. No way. Dave Murchison. That had been, what, 20 years ago?

Yes way, he realized, looking at her closely. She would have been about six then. 26 now. Oh lord.

"How's your dad?" he asked in the polite tone of a man trying to forget he'd been having impure thoughts about a friend's daughter.

"He's doing great. He retired last year and moved back to Hawaii with mom."

Jack nodded and took another drink of beer. "Tell him I said hi, okay?"

Jackie gave him a quick hug. He remembered that -- six-year-old Jacqueline Murchison hugging her papa's friend. He hadn't thought about old Dave Murchison in years.

"I will," she promised. "He'll be so psyched."

She grinned again and went back to her friend. Jack glanced at Teal'c, who gave him a neutral expression of interest and went back to watching golf. Jack finished the buffalo wings and asked for the check.

He filled Teal'c in on the Murchison backstory on the way to the truck. Not much he could tell, beyond the brief, pleasant memories of Dave's family. Remembrance was always bittersweet, and Jack slowed his steps, trying to force himself back into the here and now. Which wasn't so great, either, because it reminded him of why he'd driven to Denver in the first place.

Teal'c had gone on ahead to the truck, just down the block. The sound of laughter, talking, and music from an opening door drew Jack's attention and he looked back as he crossed the street.

There was Daniel, coming out of a bar. Jack checked the name over the door. He'd heard of that place, somewhere. In some joke... Jack stopped on the curb. There was Daniel, coming out of a gay bar.

Daniel was getting laid. By another man.

Okay, no. There wasn't any proof of that. In fact, Daniel was alone. Maybe he'd gone into the wrong bar. It happened.

Jack watched Daniel walk down the street and disappear around the corner. His first urge was to go follow, but he ignored that and reached his truck, where Teal'c was waiting patiently.

"Are you well?" Teal'c asked.

Jack looked at him. He unlocked the doors. "Yeah. Just a little tired."

A little tired, a little confused, a little preoccupied. And a lot pathetic, he told himself as he started the ignition.

\-----

Daniel was getting laid. By another man.

It explained a few things, like the not-telling-Jack part. Jack wasn't sure what else it explained, but he was working on it: thinking about the way Daniel had been lately, watching Daniel now. He hadn't found anything else needing explanation, though. Daniel was Daniel. Except for the I'm-getting-laid vibe he was giving off, the same old Daniel.

Still, the not-telling-Jack part was a big thing. Jack supposed he could see why. He played out different scenarios in his mind:

There was the "Jack, I'm gay" scenario. No. Too blunt.

Or the "Jack, I think I might be gay" scenario. No. Too wishy-washy. This was Daniel here.

"Jack, I'm exploring my sexuality." Yeah. That was more like Daniel. And then Jack would have said, "What's there to explore?" too flippantly, and Daniel would have given him a little frown, and, okay, Jack could see why Daniel decided not to tell him.

And now he had to start his obsessive curiosity all over again, Jack thought one day while SG-1 sat at an interminable banquet of inedible food with friendly, peaceful aliens. He watched Daniel politely paying attention to every long, droning speech, and wondered who the mystery guy was.

A macho type? A sissy type? Leather guy? Gym jock? How could any of these be Daniel's type?

Their alien host lifted his glass in another toast. The sunlight streamed through the golden-red drink and cast a warm reflection over Daniel. Daniel smiled politely, caught Jack's gaze, and exchanged a look of patient boredom.

Maybe Daniel had found a nice guy just like him. A little on the nerdy side, but with his heart in the right place, and an infuriating stubborn streak, and a habit of being right even when he guessed. Someone Daniel could really connect with. This thought depressed Jack, though he couldn't say why.

Banquet concluded, they walked back to the stargate. Jack hung back and let Carter take point, and observed Daniel. His measured way of walking. His right hand hovering ready over his sidearm. His utility vest unlatched and hanging open defiantly. So very Daniel.

It was easy to see what had attracted Mystery Guy. Daniel was tall, good-looking, fit. When he had to be, he could be charming. He was good 'guy' company, not afraid of silences, not insistent on going out. Not above sports, pizza and beer, so long as the beer was the dark imported kind he liked. Competitive enough at cards and chess to keep the game interesting, not so competitive that he was a jerk to play with.

Did Daniel and Mystery Guy do all that guy stuff together? All that stuff Daniel and Jack had been doing. For a while, and then not so often, and by the time Jack had noticed that it had stopped for good, it was too late. Daniel was getting laid.

\-----

Mystery Guy. Jack really wanted to know who Mystery Guy was. Maybe he'd like the guy, as long as he was good to Daniel and Daniel was happy. That was the important thing, right?

Jack decided he was being pathetic about this when he imagined following Daniel around to get a glimpse of Mystery Guy. Daniel had his reasons for not sharing. One of them was probably because he knew just how curious Jack would be. Although, dammit, didn't Daniel realize how keeping this information from Jack only made it worse?

Jack decided he was being even more pathetic about this when he invented a mental image of Mystery Guy as a tall, all-American type, maybe a little on the skinny side, easygoing, educated enough to keep Daniel's interest and to listen to Daniel without falling asleep. He pictured Mystery Guy with his arm draped across Daniel's shoulders and felt an unaccountable surge of misery.

He glared at Daniel, who was sitting at his desk typing on the computer and unaware of Jack hovering in his doorway. This was all Daniel's fault. If he'd just _told_ Jack.

Jack watched Daniel's fingers dance over the keyboard. Long and nimble and self-assured. Jack knew from four long years of reports that Daniel thought ahead of his fingers and had a habit of misspelling words or leaving them out of sentences. He'd gotten used it, so never suggested Daniel take up spellcheck. He looked upon every "teh" and "cutlure" with affection.

Daniel kept typing with his long, nimble fingers, which in a couple hours' time would be dancing over some other guy's body.

Daniel was getting laid. By another man. And it wasn't Jack.

The thought should have petrified him, should have shattered him. Instead it just slid into place with a perfect, understated finality.

Jack leaned against the doorjamb and slid his hands in his pockets and watched the back of Daniel's head. Well. Nothing more to say, really. It explained everything: his obsessive curiosity verging on stalker scariness, his flares of irrational and petty jealousy, his bottom-of-the-well moments of depression and loneliness.

"Oh, hi, Jack."

Daniel finished typing and started arranging notebooks and stuff on his desk.

"Hey," Jack said without moving from his spot in the doorway.

"I just sent you my report." Daniel stood up and turned off the desk lamp. He looked over at Jack. "What's up?"

Jack stared at the pile of books on Daniel's desk, dark in shadow. "Nothing. Are you headed out?"

Daniel walked around the office, switching off lamps. "Yeah." He met Jack in the doorway and they fell into step together, heading for the locker room.

"Big plans for your leave?" Jack asked, and he couldn't keep the nastiness out of his voice. Oh, here it was. He was going to let this bring out his bastard side.

Daniel shot Jack a suspicious glance. "Not really, no."

They reached the locker room. Jack held the door open for Daniel and asked mercilessly as he walked in, "No big dates?"

Daniel frowned at him. "No."

Jack stared at him and his idiotic resentment died. Daniel wasn't going to tell him, and who could blame him? Jack went over to his locker and opened it.

"Ah," he said.

He kept his head down while changing, avoided looking. _Just get dressed and get out of here._ Go home and drown in television and mundane drudgery.

"Hey." Daniel was standing beside him. "I don't have any plans. Do you want to see a movie or something? We could see if Teal'c wants to come along."

_Now_ Daniel was offering the comfort of guy company? There was a cruel joke somewhere here. Ha fucking ha.

Jack put on his jacket and closed the locker. "No, I thought I'd just go home. You know, mow the lawn. Do the laundry. All the really important stuff." He attempted to smile.

Daniel looked at him closely. "Oh. Okay. If you're sure."

They left the mountain together, and paused before splitting up to find their cars, hidden in the endless parking lot.

"You're sure you're in a hurry to get home?" Daniel asked. He had his hands in his pockets and jiggled his keys.

"Why?"

"Oh, I just had a taste for that barbecue place you took me to that one time. You remember the place."

Yeah, Jack did. He looked at Daniel and the knot of tension unraveled. So what if Daniel was getting laid by another man? They still had this. They were still friends.

"Barbecue sounds good to me," Jack said. "You know how to get there?"

Daniel shook his head.

"Follow my truck."

The barbecue place was busy and loud, but it was worth all the other assaults on his senses when Jack finally got to sink his teeth into the baby back ribs. And it was worth it to be here with Daniel, seeing him relax and enjoy himself.

This thought brought another, unbidden, of Daniel relaxed, post-coital, enjoying himself with another man. Jack studied his beer and waited for Daniel to finish so they could leave.

"You feeling okay?" Daniel asked.

"Sure," Jack said automatically. He swirled the beer around in his glass.

"You seem a little..." Daniel trailed off and Jack looked up. "A little distant."

That was it. Something snapped, and that was it. Enough of this crap.

"Daniel, I know."

"You know what?"

"I know. About the guy."

"What guy?"

"Dammit, Daniel. Stop it."

Daniel blinked at him and turned his fork over and over in his fingers. "What are you talking about?"

Jack leaned forward and lowered his voice. "I saw you. Last leave. Teal'c and I went to Denver and I saw you leaving that bar."

Daniel sat very still and stared at him. Jack sat back. Daniel looked away, looked down at his fork as he turned it around.

"I can explain that," Daniel said finally, although he didn't sound eager to explain it. "But I still don't know what you mean about 'the guy'. What guy?"

Jack flattened his hands on the tabletop and took a breath. "The guy you've been seeing. I know you've been seeing someone, then I saw you coming out of the bar... It doesn't take a Ph.D. to figure it out."

Daniel furrowed his brow. "But you're wrong. I'm not seeing anybody."

Jack cocked an eyebrow. "Then why were you in the bar?"

"I, uh..." Daniel looked around the restaurant. "Can we talk about this somewhere else?"

Fair enough. Jack got the check, and they sat in his truck, facing the dark street leading away from the restaurant.

Daniel held his hands out and rested them on the dashboard. "I was there because I was curious."

Oh, so it was going to be the "I'm exploring my sexuality" talk.

"Okay," Jack said evenly. He waited for Daniel to continue, and when Daniel said nothing, he asked, "Did it satisfy your curiosity?"

"Not really, no."

"Oh."

"But that's why I've been going there." Daniel glanced over at him. "I've been there a few times."

"I see." Jack ran his hand over the steering wheel. "And you're still curious."

"Well, um. Yes."

Jack flicked some dust off the clear plastic covering the odometer.

"This is a bit weird for you, I know," Daniel said, although he didn't know at all. "We don't have to talk about it."

"I asked," Jack said tightly. He paused and wiped more dust off the dashboard. "Have you slept with anyone? Had sex with... anyone?"

"Yes."

The warmth drained from Jack's face and his palms felt clammy. He wanted to beat himself senseless for being so dumb. He'd been hoping for a 'no'. As if it mattered.

"Okay. I see."

They sat in silence for long minutes, then Daniel opened the passenger side door. "I'm sorry. I knew this would be awkward." The door shut and that was that. Jack watched him walk to his car and drive off.

Daniel was curious. Daniel was getting laid. By other men. Who weren't Jack. And that was that. Not a damn thing Jack could do about it.

\-----

Not a damn thing he could do about it, Jack thought at three in the morning when he woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. Nothing he could do but admit to himself what he really wanted. Even though he couldn't explain it. Even though it went against everything in his background. Even though the desire was deep, rushing, scary. Had come out of nowhere. He should have known it would be Daniel who'd come along and sideswipe him like this.

Daniel. Daniel and his goddamned curiosity. What the hell did that mean, exactly? Daniel was curious about gay bars? Daniel was curious about having sex with men? And had kept this curiosity to himself and kept Jack out of it. Daniel had gotten laid, had changed his life, and Jack wasn't sure where the common ground was anymore.

He thought about it all day, off and on, while he did the dreary domestic chores he always put off as long as he could. By late afternoon he'd made his mind up, and wasn't entirely comfortable with his decision. He changed clothes, glanced at himself in the mirror, and wondered if this was all some sort of midlife crisis or something.

The long drive to Denver didn't reassure him, but it blunted his uneasiness, and when he reached the city, he had a practical task at hand to focus on. He found a funky coffeeshop easily enough, and picked up the alternative paper. Scanned it until he found a few likely places, then it was like a mission. Chart the territory.

The bar he picked was sedate and comfortably shabby. It could have been any bar on Earth. Jack ordered a beer, took it to a corner table, and watched the pool game in progress. So far, it was all very normal. He swirled his beer and stared into the glass, wondering what Daniel's first foray had been like. Wondering if Daniel had sat in the corner alone, observing. He could imagine Daniel taking notes, and smiled at that.

"You have a nice smile."

Jack looked up abruptly, and the man smiled at him as he moved on, joining friends at another table. Just a passing comment, but it put him on the alert, made him look around again as the bar got more crowded. He watched people meeting, talking, drinking. He wondered what the men had said to Daniel, what compliments they had made. It was hard to imagine Daniel reacting -- he'd probably made some dry, sarcastic remark. Or maybe Daniel had turned on the charm, and flattered and schmoozed his way into their beds with that indefinable something that made him annoyingly irresistible at times. Impossible to say no to.

And what had Daniel asked for, he wondered. What was it Daniel had wanted? Just sex? That seemed unlikely -- everything was serious with Daniel. So, he must have wanted company, connection, happiness.

Jack watched the pool balls scatter as another game started. He wanted to give Daniel all those things. Not that he could -- he couldn't change their lives, couldn't change the universe -- but he wished he could. Wished he were the one who could make Daniel live outside of his brain, enjoy himself, snatch each moment of happiness before the opportunity evaporated.

Jack shifted his thoughts. He hadn't come here to get all mopey and become a sad drunk in a gay bar. That would be really pathetic. He went back to watching the crowd and checking out the pool game.

Jack nursed his second beer and was starting to get bored. It was just a bar, although in small but significant ways, it reminded him it wasn't just a bar -- the strange selection of music on the jukebox, the occasional kisses exchanged as greetings, and the undercurrent of something... It took Jack a while to recognize it, but it was the feeling that there were no clear distinctions here. If there were rules, if there were traditional strategies, Jack didn't know them. It felt odd and slightly liberating, and he could see Daniel being drawn to this.

He was about to leave when he noticed the man at the bar. Sitting alone, nursing a beer, and watching Jack. He didn't look away when Jack made eye contact. Ah. So, that strategy was the same. Jack looked him over. An ordinary guy closer to Jack's age than the other people here. Just sitting with his beer and looking alone but comfortable. Maybe it was that which drew Jack to him. _Or maybe,_ Jack thought, _I'm just being curious._

Jack stood at the bar next to the man, glanced at him again, and waited for the bartender.

"Mind if I buy you another?" the man asked, smiling self-consciously.

"Go ahead, but I'm only getting a club soda this round. I'm driving." Jack took a stab at a friendly smile, knew it came off as nervous and clumsy. He peered down the bar, past the crowd, to see if he could spot the bartender.

The man stood up and patted him on the back. "Let me take care of this." He leaned over the bar and raised his voice. "Yo! Joe. Down here." The bartender disentangled himself from an intense conversation at the other end and wandered down, and the man ordered another beer and Jack's club soda.

"Thanks," said Jack. He drummed his fingers on the bar while he waited. Tried to think of small talk but was coming up short. He didn't even know what the weather had been like since he'd been offworld until yesterday.

"I'm Donald," the man said as their drinks arrived. He clicked his beer against Jack's club soda. "Cheers."

"Cheers." Jack took a drink. "I'm Jack."

They fell into silence, and Jack still had no small talk, so he just stood there next to Donald and waited. Drank his club soda. It occurred to him that Donald wasn't doing much flirting, either, which was a relief, and he decided he'd experienced enough common ground for now. So, Daniel had come to a bar like this and met guys and gotten laid. It really wasn't so different or frightening. The part that he still couldn't reconcile was that Daniel had been motivated to do it in the first place, and not tell Jack about it. And he wasn't going to find any answers to that.

Jack set his empty glass down. "Thanks for the drink. I'm going now. I have a long drive ahead of me."

Donald nodded and met his gaze. "Mind if I walk with you? I was going to leave soon anyway."

Jack tapped the bar. "Sure. No problem."

Outside it was chilly and the clouds reflected the city lights. Jack slipped his hands in his pants pockets, and noticed Donald had done the same. They walked slowly.

"Do you have to be somewhere?" Donald asked.

Jack took a breath. "Tomorrow I do, yeah."

Donald stopped at the corner. "I'd like to spend more time with you."

Jack looked at him. Knew he should be feeling something he wasn't.

"Why? Because of my scintillating conversation?"

Donald laughed. A nice, relaxed, friendly laugh. "That wasn't my first reason, but I bet you're full of surprises," he said.

Jack smiled and shook his head. "No. I'm very predictable."

Donald gave him an appraising look and grinned. "I doubt that."

"It was nice to meet you," Jack said, "but in all honesty, I didn't come here to meet anyone. I just came for a drink."

"That's too bad." Donald sighed. "I wasn't handing you some line. I'd like to get to know you."

"Thanks." Jack hitched his shoulders and looked down the sidewalk. "My truck's parked right over there. I gotta get going."

"Yeah." Donald smiled at him. "You take care, and maybe I'll see you again, okay?"

Jack gave a little shrug. "Maybe."

The light changed and he crossed the empty street. He glanced back when he got to his truck, and Donald lifted his hand in a wave, then walked away, turning the corner and disappearing.

During the long drive back to Colorado Springs, Jack thought in circles about why he'd gone there, why he hadn't, what he had expected, what he hadn't. But what his mind kept going back to was: _Did it satisfy your curiosity? Not really, no._ Jack switched on the radio and listened to news and music to keep his focus on something else.

\-----

It was uncharitable, Jack thought, of him to notice that Daniel hadn't gotten laid last night, either. He really wasn't meaning to keep tabs. And if anything, Daniel's wary and slightly pissed off mood didn't bode well for the next mission, a return to P4R-951 for more banquets and boring speeches. Diplomacy, it was called. And if 951 didn't have a bounty of trinium, a complete waste of time is what Jack would have called it.

As they dressed in the locker room, Jack listened to Carter babble about some absolutely fascinating experiment she'd tried during the leave, and watched Daniel methodically going through his gear, half-dressed. Teal'c and Carter finished and headed to the armory. Jack tied his boots, gave Daniel a breezy slap on the shoulder and said, "Hurry up there, kiddo. Wormhole's about to leave the station."

Daniel turned around, fastening his belt, and glanced at him. "So, Jack," he said with forced casualness. Uh oh.

"Yeah?"

"What we talked about the other night. In your truck." Daniel paused while he bent down to tie his boots.

Jack twitched an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Daniel stood up straight and fastened his vest. "You never told me what you thought about that."

Jack stared at him and lifted his eyebrows. Daniel thought that here and now was a good time to talk about this?

Apparently not, since Daniel left the locker room without waiting for an answer, putting his hat on. Jack followed him to the armory, glaring at the back of his head.

On 951, they were greeted by Nda, the guy in charge. Greeted at length, since cutting to the chase wasn't the local custom. Then led to the governmental assembly chamber for the welcome banquet. The endless welcome banquet, with lots of speeches.

Jack watched Daniel paying polite, bored attention to Nda's interminable speech of welcome. Daniel had a pseudo-smile plastered to his face, and he stared straight ahead. His eyes looked slightly unfocused. The only thing giving him away was his fingers, which, under the table, kept curling and uncurling the hem of his jacket.

"We don't wish to tire our new friends," Nda said, smiling, "so I will close this evening with just a few more words..."

Daniel's fingers gripped the hem of his jacket as if to rip it off. Nda droned on. Jack swallowed another yawn and checked on Carter and Teal'c. Teal'c sat motionless. Carter wore a somewhat more convincing pseudo-smile. Probably solving astrophysical equations in her head. She did that kind of thing.

Finally, SG-1 was free to retire to the guest quarters. They shared a suite reserved for visiting diplomats, with a view of the stargate in the plaza out front. At night it was lit by small white spotlights set into the lawn. Beyond it a long, oval reflecting pool stretched off into the distance, flanked by rows of tall trees. It reminded Jack of Washington, D.C. Yeah, maybe that's 951 was: just one big Washington where filibusters were the nightly entertainment.

He turned away from the floor-to-ceiling window and saw Sam bunking down on one of the large, square beds. It was set on a low dais, and very plain. Everything was plain here. Bland. Even the colors were bland. They were big on beige and grey.

Teal'c sat on the floor, deep into his kel-no-reem. And Daniel had opened the single tall cabinet in the room and was pulling something out. Jack wandered over.

"What did you find?"

"Books." Daniel held one open and turned the pages. Jack glanced down at the squiggly writing.

"Anything good?"

Daniel put the book back and pulled out another. He opened it to the middle and closed it with a sigh. "Speeches. It's a record of every speech given in the assembly hall."

Jack looked at the cabinet shelves, lined with books. There were hundreds. "Every speech?" He touched one of the spines and tapped it, then glanced at Daniel. "Well, check it out. Maybe there's something interesting in their history." He doubted it, but it was the kind of thing Daniel would enjoy looking for.

"No," Daniel said. "See? They're dated. These are just the ones for the current month."

Daniel pulled out another book, and Jack left him with it. He climbed the dais to the other bed and stretched out on it. Two more days. He wasn't going to make it. Forget goa'ulds, forget replicators. He was going to die of boredom. But, hey, on the bright side, it would save him from having to answer Daniel's _You never told me what you thought about that_. And Jack had to take all the bright sides he could get.

He woke up the next morning by rolling over onto something solid. He opened his eyes and it was Teal'c relaxing beside him, hands clasped over his stomach. Jack sat up, rubbed a hand through his hair, and looked over at the other dais. Carter was comfortably sprawled on her stomach across the middle of the bed. Daniel was curled up on his side, precariously balanced on the few inches left to him, asleep. His t-shirt had worked loose from his pants, exposing a stripe of bare skin. The fingers of one hand were splayed, keeping him in place. The other arm was bent and tucked under his cheek. His lips were parted and he looked kind of stupid that way, but also kind of nice. Kind of peaceful and warm and inviting. Jack watched him for a while, thinking, _This is Daniel in the morning_. He wondered how many guys had woken up to this, something similar to this, and if they had known how lucky they were.

On the other hand, he thought later, as they all made themselves presentable and got ready for the next round of speeches, maybe he was luckier, in a way. Because he got to see this side of Daniel: the prickly, coffee-deprived smart-ass who was no happier about this shindig than Jack was. Daniel the un-charming. Daniel, who wanted to go back to his books and translations and go somewhere new and have something to do. Daniel, who cared too much about things that mattered, so much so that it hurt, always.

"Jack?" Daniel gave him an assessing look and frowned. "Nda's waiting." He pointed at the open doorway a few times.

Jack let his thoughts scatter. "Yeah," he said. He followed Daniel out of the room.

Outside, it was a nice, sunny day. Too bad they were stuck inside. Jack watched the light change from morning to late morning and tried not to keep checking his watch. Nda wasn't speaking today. Instead, it looked like every other person on the planet was going to get a chance. Jack lost count. They all dressed alike, in beige and grey tunic suits. All the men had short beards and mustaches. All the women had short, spiky hair. They all spoke about their hopes for the future and their concerns for the present: employment, peaceful relations, a balanced budget.

Jack's attention didn't just wander, it went on long hikes. He was mentally dealing himself a solitaire hand when he noticed the steady, quiet zzzrf-zzzrf sound. He glanced over. Daniel was toying with his jacket zipper under the table, drawing it up, back down, while he watched the speaker's podium with almost believable interest.

Jack went back to his virtual solitaire game and stared at the window just beyond the speaker. Daniel's zzzrfing was maddeningly random. No pattern, no rhythm. Jack abandoned the game in frustration, unable to keep track of his deals. Instead he counted zzzrfs until the speeches stopped and it was time for lunch.

Nda led them outside and took them to the reflecting pool. Each tree around it had a special historical significance, and Nda explained every one of them as they walked past. Jack tuned most of it out, looking at the pool, their reflections, the cloudless sky, the shapes of buildings off in the distance. It was warm and humid, but the air was clean. They returned to the assembly building, where several long tables had been set up on the front lawn.

They were served a simple lunch, treated to another speech, then, miraculously, left alone while Nda had to something else to attend to. Carter sat down on the assembly steps and relaxed. Teal'c went for a walk. Jack wandered back to the reflecting pool. He went to one of the trees and felt its bark. Thick and rough.

"That's one of the oldest." Daniel joined him.

"You actually paid attention to all of that?"

Daniel tilted his head slightly. "Well... Maybe not all."

Jack looked up at the high branches. "I'm telling you, Daniel, I don't know if I can make it. We've only been here a day and I'm already asking myself if we need the trinium this much. It's like being forced to watch C-SPAN, only less interesting."

Daniel bent down and picked up a leaf. He twirled it in his fingers. "I know," he said. "This doesn't exactly make my top ten missions list, either. At first I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, to find out they're not as dull but well-meaning as they seem to be. But now..."

Jack cocked an eyebrow. "Unless they really are trying to bore us to death. A bloodless killing."

Daniel shot him a look and lightly swatted Jack's arm with the leaf. They started walking back to the assembly building.

"I guess we should be grateful we're bored," said Daniel. "You know, instead of running around being shot at."

"I'm grateful for the peace," Jack said, taking off his cap and tucking it into a pocket. "I could live without the boredom." He rubbed his hair and stole a glance at Daniel, who was walking slowly, twirling the leaf. Daniel stole a glance at him, and they made eye contact like that: two stolen glances caught at the same time. And Daniel's look didn't have any of the meanings Jack had come to expect from him. Not wary, not argumentative, not hostile. If anything, he looked almost... content.

Jack made himself look away, looked down at the leaf Daniel had. It was green on one side, and vivid yellow on the other, and when Daniel twirled it, the yellow side seemed to catch the sunlight. He imagined holding it up to Daniel's chin, to see if it reflected yellow on his skin, the way he'd seen little girls hold up dandelions to each other, at first to see if they liked butter, later to see if they liked a boy. Little girls and dandelions... He thought of Tessa and Kayla, and remembered that Tessa's birthday was this week, and she'd made a point of sending her handmade invitation to him via General Hammond. Well, if he could be there, he would, he thought with a sigh.

Daniel swatted him with the leaf again. "There's Nda," he said.

Carter stood up as Nda came down the steps, and Teal'c showed up from his walk, joining Jack and Daniel. Jack expected to be ushered into the next round of speeches, but Nda smiled and led them away from the plaza.

"I hope you will enjoy the cultural activities we've scheduled for today," he said. "We've never had the honor to share our achievements with another civilization before."

Jack lifted his eyebrows and looked at Daniel. Daniel fell into step beside Nda. "Cultural activities? Yes." He glanced back over his shoulder and exchanged looks with Jack, Teal'c, and Carter. "That would be very interesting. Thank you."

More interesting than speeches, Jack thought. Take any bright side that he could get.

The side darkened a little, though, when they reached their first destination: a huge, imposing stone building with a sign Daniel read as, "The Museum of Industrial Standardization."

"Maybe they'll have displays of their technological advances," Carter said as Nda went to arrange a special tour for them. "Including any alloys they've made with trinium."

Jack gave her a sidelong look. "Gee, I don't know if I could handle the excitement."

Carter gave a little shrug. She was looking for bright sides, too.

No luck for Carter. It was exactly what it said it was: a museum of industrial standardization. The first gallery, which had to be about five times the size of the gateroom, was devoted to measurement devices for various industries. And this was just the beginning.

Carter and Daniel had polite questions they could ask of Nda and the museum guide who accompanied them. Jack held out hope that there'd be an astronomy section, and wondered when he'd become such an optimist. And Teal'c... Jack paused and scanned the room for Teal'c. There he was, closely inspecting one of the displays. Jack went over to him.

"What have you found?" Maybe here was where the other shoe dropped. Jack looked at the ruler on display and half expected to see Goa'uld markings on it.

No. It was just an ordinary ruler with squiggly numbers on it.

"The Indradrians make very precise measurements," Teal'c observed, attention still riveted to the display.

Jack stared at him. Waited for the punchline. Said, "Uh, yeah," and left him to it.

By Gallery Three, Daniel had run out of polite questions, and even Carter's eternal hope for geeky surprises seemed to have evaporated. Only Teal'c was still hanging on every word of Nda and the guide, and what the hell that was about, Jack couldn't guess. One of those unexpected Teal'c things.

In Gallery Four, devoted to -- Jack had already forgotten -- Nda and the guide and Teal'c stood in front of a large display and discussed whatever it was. Carter sat down on one of the benches and rolled her shoulders. Daniel wandered over to another display and Jack joined him. A little frown creased Daniel's brow as he looked into the display case. Jack followed his line of sight until he saw the object. It was beige, cylindrical, tapered to a rounded, cleft point, about seven or eight inches long, fist-sized in circumference, slightly curved, and set on a spherical base.

Uh. Huh. Jack cocked his head and raised his chin.

Daniel gave him a sidelong look, brow still furrowed. "Standard?"

Jack returned his look and twitched an eyebrow. "Industrial?"

Daniel looked at the thing again. "You don't suppose...?"

"It's an industry. I guess."

Daniel folded his arms over his chest. Jack tapped his P-90. They stood side by side and stared at the thing for a few moments before Nda joined them.

"Oh, yes, this one is very important," he said. "Clever design, is it not?"

_Wonder where they got the inspiration._ Jack nodded noncommittally.

"Uh, what is it, exactly?" Daniel asked. Jack shot him a look, and Daniel raised his eyebrows, all innocence.

"Ah, well, you see, it's a critical piece of equipment," Nda said, gesturing at it.

_Yep._

"When connected with the cross-directional threads of the pulping mixer, it rotates and controls the tension of the mixing blades. The rounded base keeps it buoyant."

Daniel blinked and looked at it again. "So it's used to make paper."

Nda smiled earnestly. "Yes, exactly. Very important, you see."

He walked on to join the others who were being led into Gallery Five. Daniel pursed his lips and nodded once. "Critical... critical piece of equipment." He glanced at Jack, and his lips twitched, and he graced Jack with a secret, bemused smile before turning away and following the others.

Jack grinned and caught up with him, patted him on the shoulder, and said close to his ear, "Buoyant."

And after that, well, screw it. It was a mission and all, and it wasn't like any of them let their guards down, but there was something about the stifling dullness of the museum, and the next one -- the Museum of Advances in Automated Accounting -- that just invited juvenile humor. And as Jack had often suspected but rarely been able to observe, Daniel was still in touch with his inner juvenile. It was... Fun. Not letting-go-of-all-cares and forgetting-why-we're-here fun, but fun in a distracting way. Keeping serious, straight faces as long as they possibly could. Exchanging subtle looks as the guide droned on and on about the invention of the decimal point placement spacer instrument. Sneaking off together into the next gallery, in the vain hope of speeding the tour along. And then, at random, Daniel murmuring to Jack, "It rotates," and Jack murmuring to Daniel, "Clever design." Until at last, the strategy worked, and the museum tours were over, and Nda was taking them back to the assembly, pleased that his guests had enjoyed the cultural activities so much.

And, yes, Jack thought, he had enjoyed himself. Had enjoyed Daniel, being with Daniel. Being silly with Daniel, which was something he never thought he'd be able to do again. As they climbed the assembly stairs, and Jack watched Daniel's loping steps, Jack felt a pang of melancholy. If they could have this...

And then, the melancholy died, because Daniel had reached the top of the stairs and stopped, turned around, and waited for Jack, and he had that secret, bemused smile. Jack patted him on the elbow and they walked into the assembly chamber together.

During the evening session of speeches, the Indradrians voted to finalize the agreement for trinium trade with SGC. After all that talk, the actual work of the government went surprisingly quickly. Jack reassessed his comparison of 951 to Washington. Deal sealed, they could go back home and give Hammond the good news.

He should have expected that deal-sealing on 951 would come with, yes, more speeches. And a cocktail party. More or less. The drinks weren't familiar cocktails, and the Indradrians were too bland to let their hair down, but it was a sip-and-schmooze affair in the main hall, under the grand staircase. SG-1 were popular. The honored guests.

Jack nodded his head and smiled politely the whole evening, introduced to a steady stream of Indradrians he couldn't keep track of. He scanned the crowd for the others and found Carter a few times, surrounded by Indradrian men. Teal'c was meeting and greeting in his own way -- a few nods, a few bows, a few judicious arches of eyebrow. And Daniel -- where was Daniel? Being charming and learning lots about Indradrian culture, no doubt. Finding out that beige and grey held special religious significance on 951 or something.

"Buy you a drink?"

Daniel nudged Jack's elbow and handed him a glass of bright red wine. Jack took it from him, looking at him longer than he meant to. Daniel stood next to him, close, sipped his wine and watched the room. A whole room of people to talk to -- aliens to talk to -- and Daniel was standing here.

Jack lifted his glass in Daniel's direction and said lightly, testing the waters, "Come here often?"

Daniel stood very still and watched the room. Jack noticed his fingers tighten their hold on his glass. "Not often, no," Daniel said quietly. He lifted his glass and took a drink.

Jack rocked his glass, sloshing the wine back and forth. "Me neither. I'm... new at it."

Daniel looked at him. Intently. Seemed like he was searching for something, staring into Jack's eyes like he could read the thoughts in Jack's head. And Jack stared back, let him. His thoughts... Well, he wasn't sure what they were right now, but he was letting them run wild.

"I--" Daniel started to say, but then an Indradrian came up to them, and wanted to talk, and talked a lot, and Jack left Daniel to it, which was unkind, perhaps, but he had to take a leak anyway. He slowly made his way to the stairwell, in starts and stops as more friendly aliens wanted to honor him by yakking his ear off. By the time he reached the first step, he was considering taking the stairs two at a time. That alien wine had run right through him.

Daniel was in the suite when he got there. How Daniel had managed to extricate himself from their hosts and beat Jack here without Jack seeing him, Jack had no idea, but he didn't stop to find out.

When Jack came out of the bathroom, Daniel was sitting on one of the dais. He had an empty glass in his hand and was rolling it between his palms. Jack stood for a moment and watched him, then sat down beside him. The meet-and-greet could wait a while.

Jack rested his arms on his knees so that his hands dangled down between his legs. He wiggled his fingers. No idea how to start this conversation.

Daniel tapped his empty glass. Jack took a deep breath. A ridiculous thought flitted by -- holding a yellow dandelion under Daniel's chin -- and then it was gone, and the day was gone, and those juvenile moments in museums were gone. The room they were in was huge, and dark, and empty, and cold. Beige and grey.

"I didn't give you a chance," Daniel said, "to tell me what you thought about it. I, um. You took me by surprise."

Jack nodded a little. Wiggled his fingers again. "I could tell you now," he offered. He paused and added, "Except I'm not sure I can explain it."

Daniel looked at him, waiting.

Jack splayed his fingers, ran his hands over his knees, wiping his palms. "I guess I'm... curious, too."

Daniel narrowed his eyes very slightly. "Curious."

Jack cocked his head to one side and took another deep breath. Hell, what did he say now? What were the strategies, what were the signals? How could he explain it to Daniel when he hadn't stopped to explain it to himself yet? Not in words, anyway.

"Sure," Jack said. "I... Um... I--"

Carter opened the door and came in, marched over to the other dais, and collapsed on the bed, legs hanging off the side.

"Rough night?" Jack asked. Because he had to say something, had to fill the silence that had been so charged at first, while he let go of the moment just before that. And as he waited for Carter to answer, he realized that neither he nor Daniel had moved an inch when she came in. They were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, more or less. He couldn't feel Daniel's arm, but their sleeves were touching. They weren't moving now, as they stared at Carter. And that signified something. Jack thought, _This isn't over_.

Carter rose up on her elbows and looked at them. "Turning down an alien's offer of marriage isn't breaking diplomatic protocol, is it, sir?" Her eyes glinted and she locked her jaw as she smiled.

Jack raised an eyebrow and smiled back at her.

Daniel raised his empty glass in a mock toast. "Here's to unnoticed escapes." Carter mock-saluted him.

Jack was in bed by the time Teal'c came back. A low light at the far end of the room had been left on. Teal'c turned it off, pulled a couple of candles out of Daniel's backpack, lit them, and sat between the beds doing his kel-no-reem. Jack, curled up on his side, watched the candlelight and moved his gaze beyond, to Daniel, asleep on the other bed. No, not asleep, because Daniel opened his eyes and watched back, through the candles' glow.

_This isn't over._

Daniel closed his eyes again, and Jack closed his and went to sleep.

\-----

It wasn't over. And that was a good thing. Really.

Except, now, back on Earth, back in the real world, Jack had no idea how to go on from here. How to resume the conversation, which had seemed so natural in a cold, empty, beige room, and now seemed so improbable.

But he couldn't let it slip away, either. Dressed to go home, he wandered toward Daniel's office to lure him away with, perhaps, a promise of barbecue -- or maybe not, actually, not after last time. Daniel met him in the corridor, already dressed for home, too. They fell into step together and left the mountain, and in the vast parking lot, Jack said, "I have to go to the mall."

"Why?"

Because it was neutral territory, was what Jack was thinking. "I have to get a present for Tessa. Hammond's granddaughter." Which was also a valid reason.

Daniel jiggled his keys in his pants pocket. "Okay. I'll meet you... Where?"

Jack smiled at him. "Where else? Toys-R-Us."

Toys-R-Us was about the most neutral of neutral territories. Inside, it was all about two guys figuring out what the hell to buy a nine-year-old girl for her birthday. Okay, well, one guy figuring it out, because Daniel was absolutely no help whatsoever.

Mission accomplished, and still needing neutral territory, they went to the food court. Daniel was fidgety, and Jack was beginning to feel a little lost. He almost wished they were back on 951. In that big, beige room.

They got Chinese and sat at a rickety table in those damned uncomfortable metal chairs. Jack ate his egg roll and watched the people going by. Pushing strollers. Talking on cell phones. Window shopping. When he looked at Daniel, Daniel was picking at his fried rice with the plastic fork. He looked just as lost. Jack wanted to reach across the table and take his hands. Hold him, touch him, be lost together with him. And it should have frightened the hell out of him, but it didn't. Jack had kind of known it already, he admitted. Just hadn't acknowledged it. Hadn't let it slide into place yet.

"You said you were curious," Daniel said, not looking up from his fried rice.

"Yeah."

Daniel looked up, and Jack met his gaze, and they stared at each other.

"Oh," Daniel said. Then he shifted in the chair, combed his fork through the fried rice again, and said, "I, uh... Are you still curious?"

Jack licked his lips and swallowed against his suddenly dry mouth. Around them were people and too-bright fluorescent lights, and that weird mall smell, and plastic plants, and babies crying. And this, _this_ was the moment. Jack stared at Daniel, imagined holding a dandelion up, imagined Daniel snatching it away with a rueful smile. Maybe it could happen, someday.

"Yeah, I am."

He felt free, too free, actually. As in freefalling. But Daniel brought him back to Earth. He toyed with the plastic fork, frowned, and asked, "How curious? Because... I don't know how to explain this, but what I thought was curiosity... It was something that was there all along. I was asking the wrong questions, and if that's what's going on here--"

"It's not," Jack said. He picked up the toys and his tray, and stood up. Daniel looked up at him. Jack smiled softly, and Daniel visibly relaxed. Stood up, too.

But it wasn't like anything was really settled, Jack thought as they left the food court. Where did they go from here? So much to be scared of. So much to scare them away, scare them apart. Jack stopped in front of a shoe store and stared at the display. It wasn't impossible, it was just damned hard.

Daniel took the toy bag from him without asking. Jack glanced over at him. "Wanna see a movie?"

"Sure."

The movie they settled on, some thriller, had already started, but it was only the previews. Jack bought a bag of popcorn and they sat in one of the short rows over to the side. Jack watched the previews without seeing them -- they were just colors washing over him as he shared the popcorn with Daniel and felt Daniel's arm against his because they were sharing the armrest. The movie started, and it was still just colors and sounds. Jack turned his head and looked at Daniel, waited for the screen to go bright to see Daniel's profile.

He held out the popcorn bag. "You want more of this?"

"No," Daniel said, turning his head. He looked at Jack.

Jack glanced around, couldn't believe he was thinking this. No one sitting behind them. The theater was only a quarter full. Color flickered on Daniel.

Jack leaned in, and Daniel leaned in, and Jack couldn't say who started it, because apparently they were both on the same page here, had the same thoughts. It didn't matter. They were kissing. They were kissing in a movie theater. It was absurd. It was stupid. It felt great. Daniel's mouth was so warm, soft and seeking. He made little breaths, little shaking sighs. Nerves. Jack was making the same little shaking breaths. Nerves. Daniel parted his lips, drew Jack's tongue inside, then his tongue was in Jack's mouth, swirling, seeking, softly. He tasted like popcorn. They were making out in a movie theater. It was absurd.

When they drew apart, Daniel released a bigger, shakier sigh. Jack swallowed against the popcorn-kiss taste in his mouth, and he could smell Daniel's sweat. Above the smells of musty theater and sweet spilled drink, he smelled Daniel, and he wanted more of that. By itself. It was strange, maybe, that he knew the smell of Daniel's sweat so well, and was finding it such a turn-on, but on the other hand, Jack wasn't sure what _wouldn't_ be considered strange in this situation.

"Let's leave," he said.

Daniel looked at him and nodded and picked up the toy bag. "Yes."

Jack considered, quickly, his thoughts disorganized and random. Daniel's sweat. Popcorn taste. And, god, could he make it to the parking lot without kissing Daniel again? And just when his brain offered up a suggestion, Daniel voiced it for him. "Your place?"

"Yeah."

The kiss was on his tongue, on his lips, on his brain, and, god yes, in his dick and balls, all the way to his place. It was inside his blood, inside his skin. He kept licking his lips, needing Daniel there again, that taste again. He checked his rearview mirror, and Daniel had somehow ended up two cars back.

The distance was long enough that his pulse had settled down by the time he parked in the drive. He caught his breath and looked at the sunset sky overhead, cloudy above the trees. He glanced down the street, and Daniel's car wasn't there yet. Jack walked to the front door instead of going through the garage. The cool air felt good. He stopped on the walkway and looked at the clouds again.

_Do I want this?_ Before he could even ask it, the answer was, _Yes, I do. So much_. He closed his eyes and saw Daniel's secret smile, from the museum on 951. Yes, he wanted that. To cause that, to give that, to share that. Why had it taken him so long to figure it out? He opened his eyes in time to see Daniel parking his car on the street.

_I was asking the wrong questions._

Jack opened the front door and they stepped inside and stood in the hallway for a moment. Jack thought they would kiss, was about to kiss Daniel, but Daniel looked at the living room, then down the hallway, and headed for the spare room, the one Jack used as a TV room, junk space, guy space. At the door to the TV room, Jack touched Daniel's elbow, lightly, once.

"Let's go up on the roof."

Daniel gave him a warm, inviting look, smiled a little, and followed. Jack opened the door of his bedroom, switched on the light, and winced a little. Bills and clutter on the desk. Clothes draped over the chair, belt hooked over the corner of the mirror, T-shirt hanging from his old telescope. Books on the bed, on the floor, on the desk. The lampshade was crooked, the framed celestial map was crooked, and he'd forgotten that the upper drawer of the dresser had broken and was sticking halfway out. Crooked.

Jack kicked a few books aside to clear the path to the door to the outside. Daniel came in and paused. He looked around. Jack watched him step around the bed and read the covers of the books, and examine the desk clutter. Checking out the credit card bill, inquisitive little bastard. Knowledge and discovery. Jack tapped his fingers on the doorknob, and Daniel looked at him, that same warm look. With a hint of inner juvenile in it.

Jack opened the door and let Daniel climb up first. There was only the one chair, so they sat on the railing, and Daniel bumped the cover of the telescope with his knee.

"Too bad it's cloudy," Daniel said, looking up.

"Always is when I'm here," Jack said. There was still some light in the sky. Jack could see the smooth curve of Daniel's neck, the line of his jaw. A dark strip of sideburn trimmed along his cheekbone. The glint of metal from his glasses frames.

"Maybe it'll clear up."

"Sometimes it does."

Daniel brought his head forward again. Stared at Jack. Took a little sighing breath. "I think we're doing this," he said. Jack could see him furrow his brow in the shadowy evening gloom.

"I think we are."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Are you?" Jack reached over and straightened the telescope cover.

Daniel was silent for a moment. He didn't answer until Jack looked at him again. "Yes."

Jack let out a shaky, sighing breath, and relaxed. And somehow, Daniel knew to slide closer and put his arm behind Jack, and Jack looked up at the sky, which was dark cloudy blue now. His shoulder rested against Daniel's. He turned his head, and Daniel had already tilted his, and they kissed again. Slow, and wonderful, because the air around them was cool and fresh, but Daniel's mouth was so warm, so hot. Jack rested his hand on the back of Daniel's neck and filled Daniel's mouth with his tongue, tasting that heat. Daniel's mouth was wet, and a little salty, and hungry. Very hungry. Drawing on his tongue, drinking it.

Daniel ended the kiss with little kisses, like he couldn't stop touching his lips to Jack's. Jack pressed their foreheads together, then drew back, letting go. Daniel caught his hand and took it and clasped it in an oddly old-fashioned, chaste way. They sat there in the dark and silence and chilly air. The universe was vast, but here they were, anyway.

"Buoyant," Jack said after a while, leaning back against Daniel's shoulder. Daniel laughed once softly.

"So..." Jack paused. "Your curiosity was unsatisfied?"

"Mm." Daniel shifted a little and let go of his hand. "I, um... You're not bothered by that, are you?"

"I was. A little. But not now." Jack sat up and stretched his legs out straight. Damn knees. "In fact, it's a relief."

He felt Daniel shift again, and Daniel's arm pressed against his. "A relief?"

"Yeah. I'm glad one of us will know what he's doing."

"Ah," Daniel said. "Uh. Well, actually..." He hesitated and Jack tried to look at him, but all he could see was a silhouette with glasses. "Can we go inside now? I'm getting cold."

"Sure." Jack stood up. He lightly rubbed Daniel's shoulder, helped him climb down in the dark. "Trying to change the subject?" he asked as they reached the door.

"Definitely," Daniel said, stepping inside.

As Jack closed the door behind them, Daniel curved his hand to Jack's neck and drew him into another slow, seeking, warm kiss. Jack held Daniel's shoulder, and after a moment's hesitation, wrapped his arms around him. Leaned back against the wall and let Daniel lean into him, deepening the kiss. Daniel's body heat and weight pressed against him, through their clothes. Daniel stroked the back of Jack's neck, and his fingers kept straying into Jack's hair. Daniel's tongue filled Jack's mouth, with eagerness and restlessness and insatiable curiosity. Jack skimmed it with his teeth, tried to hold it and tame it as he sucked it.

The blood rush gave him pins and needles. He held Daniel's waist -- thick, male waist -- and broke from the kiss. Daniel's lips blushed a darker pink. Jack couldn't help it, had to kiss him again, feel those lips soften under his. When he drew back, Daniel inhaled a shivering breath. His glasses were crooked. Jack reached up to straighten them, and Daniel smiled a little.

"I'm not sure if this counts as changing the subject," Daniel said.

Jack rubbed Daniel's sides, getting somewhat distracted by the newness of feeling up another man. Thick and flat and solid where his hands had been used to slim and curved and soft. He wondered what Daniel's skin felt like, and got another fever-hot blood rush thinking he was probably close to finding out.

He stilled his hands. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to," he said.

Daniel stared at him, stared into his eyes. His thumb rubbed the back of Jack's neck. He let go and pulled back, and Jack let his hands drop, but could still feel his heat.

Daniel took a deep breath and looked around for somewhere to sit. Well, here it was, the _I was exploring my sexuality_ talk, and Jack wasn't sure he wanted to hear this anymore, but Daniel had that look. He was going to talk about it whether Jack wanted to hear it or not.

Jack took off his jacket and draped it over the chair. He perched on the edge of the desk. "Take your jacket off?"

"Oh." Daniel nodded. "Yes." He took it off, looked around again, and laid it over Jack's. He gave Jack a tentative look before sitting down on the foot of the bed. He picked up one of the books from the floor, read the spine, and thumbed the pages.

"I, um..." he started, not looking up from the book. "Like I said, I was asking the wrong questions. So I, um, went out." He glanced up quickly at Jack, then set the book aside on the bed. "A few times." He wiggled his fingers in some Daniel-handspeak code for 'a few.' "Anyway, the point is, I did, you know, have sex... Technically."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Technically?"

Daniel cocked his head from side to side. "Technically, yes. Twice."

Jack frowned a little. "Twice?" He counted back the weeks he'd been obsessing over Daniel's love life. "How can it only be twice? It's been at least since we went to that place, what was it, the mossy planet. You found a couple of obelisks there."

"P6R-585?"

"Yeah. 585."

Daniel frowned at him. "No. It was after that. A while after that."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Jack stared at him. He thought back over the weeks again. "But you seemed..." He trailed off. He'd never trust male intuition again.

"Seemed what?" Daniel asked, eyeing him closely.

Jack shrugged a little. "I don't know. You seemed..." He searched for the right words to explain it, reviewing Daniel, his observations of Daniel. Something slid into place, an image of Daniel standing at the top of the steps, waiting for Jack. He looked at Daniel. "You seemed like you did yesterday on Indradria."

"But 585 was before I figured out..." Daniel paused. He blinked and lifted his eyebrows. "Oh." He smiled slowly, softly, at Jack, his smile of comprehension.

Jack smiled back. "Yeah. 'Oh.'"

Daniel stood up and moved closer, and Jack rested his hands on Daniel's hips, and as he got off the desk, their bodies slid together. Daniel was warm and heavy. He ran his hands over Jack's chest and shoulders as they kissed. A long, savoring, sweet kiss. Until Daniel's hands got restless, and moved down Jack's back, to hold his hips, then his ass, and press Jack closer.

Jack smelled his sweat, his clothes. The softness of his lips rubbed against Jack's, and against Jack's teeth, and Jack bit softly. Sucked and chewed on the lower until Daniel sighed and drew Jack's tongue into the liquid heat of his mouth. Daniel's hands moved over his ass, shaping to hold him.

As they pulled back from the kiss, Jack lifted his hand and touched Daniel's cheek. He ran his thumb up Daniel's sideburn, because that was something new to feel, too. Then skimmed his fingertips through the short, fine hairs above Daniel's ear, and up to the top of his head. Tried to make his hair stick up, but it wouldn't.

"You know, there's a bed right there," Jack said casually.

Daniel raised his eyebrows and glanced back over his shoulder. "So there is."

He let go slowly, hands lingering on Jack's hips before he stepped back and bent down to take off his shoes. He removed his glasses and set them on top of the dresser. Jack grabbed up the books from the bed and stacked them on the floor. His heart was racing, like a kid on his first date, which it sort of was, he supposed. And sort of wasn't.

Daniel sat down on the bed and ran his hands over the covers. He glanced up at Jack before sliding back and stretching out. He clasped his hands behind his head. Jack pulled off his shoes and took off his watch, and joined him on the bed. He rested on his side and propped up on one elbow, looking at Daniel. Like this, on his bed, looking warm and inviting.

He rested his hand on Daniel's chest, moved his palm until he felt Daniel's heart beating through the warmth of his shirt. Daniel unclasped his hands and slid them over Jack's back, pulling him forward, until they kissed. Beginning slow and sweet, rapidly becoming harder, sharper. Daniel's breath and smell and the roughness of his clothes and the solidity of his body drowned Jack's senses. He couldn't stop, couldn't get enough.

Jack slid his knee between Daniel's, and his hand grasped at Daniel's hip, at his belt. He untucked Daniel's shirt and reached beneath it, and received a jolt of fever-rush at the touch of Daniel's skin. Hot and smooth and alive and moving as Daniel writhed and rubbed the nape of Jack's neck with one hand, and the small of his back with the other. Daniel devoured his mouth, biting, sucking, scraping.

Jack lifted up from the kiss and fumbled to untuck the rest of Daniel's shirt and unbuckle his belt.

"I can't believe we're doing this," he said, breathless from the fever-rush high he was riding. And he couldn't believe it, and couldn't believe they hadn't done it before. _Asking the wrong questions._

Daniel pulled Jack's shirt off in one quick motion and dropped it on the floor. He made a short, small noise of impatience when he saw Jack's undershirt, and grabbed that, too, tugging it off and tossing it with the other. He arched up so Jack could peel him out of his shirt. Then they were skin to skin, hot and solid and smooth and rough all at the same time, rubbing against each other. Kissing. Devouring.

Daniel glided his hands down Jack's back, fingers following the line of Jack's spine. He licked the corner of Jack's mouth, and his eyelids closed partway, as if this was something he'd decided to indulge in. Then he rubbed his lips along Jack's jaw, and licked Jack's cheekbone.

He murmured, "I can't believe we haven't done it before," and Jack smiled a little.

He smoothed his hands along Daniel's sides. Amazing how good it felt to be pressed against him like this, to feel every tiny flexing of muscle as Daniel moved and caressed him. Daniel bit along his jawline, tiny kissing bites, down to his neck. Jack tilted his head and dug his fingers into Daniel's skin, shuddering as Daniel teased his neck with scrapes of his teeth. Jack tilted again and kissed him, slow and deep and hungry. To taste his sweet-salty mouth while they were like this, skin against skin.

When he drew back, Daniel's eyes were heavy-lidded and his pupils were dark and wide. His lips were blushed deep rose, parted and wet from kissing. He gazed up at Jack and took a steadying breath, and grasped Jack's hips. And everything about his look said, _I'm getting what I want_.

Jack was already halfway there, but seeing this look, knowing this look, drove his blood straight to his balls and made his dick rock-hard. He squirmed a little, trying to stay comfortable, and Daniel widened his eyes and let out a brief, hoarse, "Ohhh." His hands tightened on Jack's hips and held him as he pressed up to rub against Jack's hard-on. He rubbed again, and Jack hissed softly. The rubbing was driving him crazy, and he could feel Daniel's dick, curving and tenting inside his pants.

Jack couldn't get enough. He licked along Daniel's neck and slid his hands inside Daniel's pants, following his hips. Daniel squeezed his ass and rubbed again, and his throat vibrated with a soft moan. Jack shuddered, took a deep breath to steady his pulse, and sat up, straddling Daniel's leg. He unbuttoned Daniel's fly and pushed his pants and underwear down, past his hips until, christ, there he was. Dick hard and wine-red and standing up, balls dark and swollen, smooth belly flattening with each breath, wild, thick curls of brown hair with an unexpected hint of red.

Daniel writhed and moved his leg between Jack's thighs, gazing up at him. He bent his knee up, and Jack pressed back against his leg to steady himself. Daniel reached for his belt and fly. Jack held his breath as Daniel's fingers touched him through his clothes while he fumbled with the buckle and buttons. More comfortable, he moved Daniel's hands to his hips. He ran his fingers down Daniel's chest and stomach, and watched Daniel's dick twitch slightly.

Jack glanced at him. "Industrial standard?"

Daniel smiled a little and cocked his head. "Maybe not industrial, no." He moved his fingers back to Jack's waistband, trying to pull it down. Jack covered his wrists and steered his hands away again, and Daniel sighed impatiently.

Jack sympathized, but he wanted to concentrate, and Daniel getting him naked and touching him was going to kill his concentration. He wanted to experience this: folding his fingers around Daniel's dick and feeling it swell in his hand. Feel its blush of heat, feel it rise and grow heavier. Watch Daniel writhe and breathe through his teeth, watch his pupils dilate, watch his skin sheen with sweat.

Jack stroked him gently a few times, getting used to the feel. Then squeezed and stroked down, all the way, and rubbed his balls with his palm. Daniel made a kind of hiccuping gasp and clutched Jack's thighs. Jack watched him bite his lower lip and pant shakily, while he played with Daniel's balls, cupping them to feel their heat burn on his palm, rubbing and rolling them until he was too close to going too far. He wrapped his hand around Daniel's shaft and stroked up again, to the tip, and rubbed and rolled there, beginning to pull. And Daniel thrust a little bit, and his slit leaked wetness, and Jack slid his hand around and around to wet it before pulling again.

Daniel thrust again, and that was too much. Jack couldn't wait, had to squeeze and stroke and jerk. Tightening his fingers even as they slid, slippery. Daniel gripped him by his thighs and rocked beneath him, thrusting and ramming his dick into Jack's hand. Sweating and panting and looking... looking goddamned fucking handsome. Strong and sexy and about to lose it. Jack jerked him faster. The smell of Daniel's sweat and musk rose around them, making Jack's blood cook and swirl inside his veins.

Daniel swallowed a choking moan and lifted his hips up, once, twice, two hard thrusts before he shot. Long and thick, before short little ones, and Jack kept rubbing his tip to pull them all, and slick his hand with Daniel's come. Daniel exhaled a shuddering sigh and kind of melted beneath him, his hands loosening their hold and sliding down Jack's thighs. He blinked a few times, lazily, and gazed up at Jack.

Jack slowed, then stilled his hand, and gently let go. He gazed back, looking into Daniel's eyes and feeling that he should say something, except it seemed like anything he could say Daniel was already thinking. Jack smiled a little. He loved when they were on the same page.

Daniel's look took on a faint roguishness and his fingers crept back up Jack's thighs. He reached for Jack's waistband, hooked his thumbs under Jack's undershorts and pulled down. Jack rose up to let him, until his pants were bunched around his knees. His cock bobbed in the air, which was still warm from Daniel. He watched Daniel watch it. Daniel's hands stroked his sides, up and down.

Daniel looked up at him and smiled a little. He clutched Jack's sides and yanked him forward. Jack, caught by surprise, tumbled over him, into his arms, into a sticky sweaty hug, into a wet, deep kiss. His dick pressed against the hard flat of Daniel's stomach, and Jack moaned into the kiss, thrusting.

Daniel's fingers scrambled over Jack's pants, tugging them down until Jack could kick them off, taking his socks with them. Jack chewed and sucked on Daniel's lips and kept thrusting against his moist, slick solid stomach. Daniel squirmed under him, mysteriously until Jack realized he was trying to get his own pants the rest of the way off. Jack rose up and reached back, helping him along, and they were naked. Freefall. Dandelions. The universe was vast, and here they were, naked together.

Daniel pulled him forward again, mysteriously until his lips touched Jack's chest and he kissed and licked Jack's skin, nipples, hair. Jack had one knee along Daniel's side, the other awkwardly bent over Daniel's middle, and his balls brushed against Daniel's skin. Jack shivered from the glancing touch, tried to straighten his knee, and ended up with his legs around Daniel's stomach. Which wasn't all that comfortable until he rose up on his knees. Which was just what Daniel wanted, he knew from the look Daniel gave him, from the odd, throaty purr he made, and the way he slid lower, kissing Jack's belly, biting around Jack's navel.

_Good lord,_ Jack had time to think before Daniel licked his cock and obliterated all other thoughts. Jack rested a hand on Daniel's shoulder to steady himself, inhaling deeply as Daniel did it again. Daniel shaped his hands to Jack's ass and held him while he licked yet again, from balls to tip. The wet streak of his tongue made Jack ache. He dug his fingers into Daniel's shoulder. Daniel slid his lips around the head of Jack's cock, rolled his tongue and mouth around it. His eyes were almost closed, not quite. That look he had, like he was indulging himself.

Jack swelled and rocked subtly, rubbed his tongue. What Daniel wanted, because with another odd purry sound Daniel took more of him in, sucked and stroked him, sliding his mouth up and down. Too much to take. Jack's pulse started exploding, he felt it throb behind his ears and the backs of his knees and in his balls and dick. He thrust with Daniel's sliding. Daniel gave him a rolling suck, a hint of teeth, and Jack's tip touched the roof of his mouth. A ripple of pins and needles threaded down Jack's spine. He stiffened in Daniel's mouth, gripped Daniel's shoulder, and bit the inside of his lip as the wave hit and he spilled over Daniel's restless, swirling tongue.

Then he wanted to melt, but Daniel wouldn't let him, kept holding him and licking him and sucking him until he was way past spent. He combed his fingers through Daniel's hair, rubbed the back of Daniel's neck, and felt freefalling again as it hit him: the universe was vast, but here they were, on Jack's bed, and Daniel was sucking his cock. A quiet laugh rumbled up from his stomach, and he buried his hands in Daniel's hair, rubbing it, messing it up, holding on as he drew out.

Daniel smiled up at him, eyes heavy lidded. Jack shifted to stretch out over him, straighten his legs before his knees staged a coup d'etat. He propped up on one elbow and stroked Daniel's chest with his other hand.

"You look smug," he said.

Daniel ran a hand up Jack's arm and rubbed his shoulder. "So do you, actually." He smoothed his hand back down and rested it over Jack's. Played with Jack's fingers, lifting them and letting them fall back onto his chest. Jack watched him. He knew this Daniel. The _Daniel's getting laid_ Daniel.

He lowered himself and they kissed, at first hot and hungrily, then softer, slower, easier. And Daniel tasted salty and sharp and strange, and he realized that was his taste. Lazy, drowsy touches as their heat in the air faded.

Jack lightly scratched the nape of Daniel's neck. "Get cleaned up?"

Daniel kissed his shoulder. "Yeah. Then dinner?"

"Yeah." Jack rolled his shoulder while Daniel gently bit it. "I have some soup. And crackers, if they're not stale by now."

"Soup's good." Daniel took his hand and kissed his palm.

While Daniel took a quick shower, Jack checked the state of the crackers and found them to be acceptable. He let the soup simmer while he cleaned up and threw on some undershorts and an old T-shirt. He carried two bowls back to the bedroom and found Daniel sitting on the bed, wearing his glasses and Jack's ancient, ratty, brown bathrobe -- one he had to have gone poking around for because Jack hadn't seen it in weeks -- and reading one of Jack's books. Jack decided the robe looked better on him; it had always been a bit too big in the shoulders anyway. He set the soup down, came back with the crackers, and sat on the floor next to the bed while they had dinner.

"Don't get crumbs in my bed."

"I'll be very careful."

Daniel finished first. Jack felt the bed moving as Daniel stretched out, then Daniel kissed the top of his head. "Stay here?" Daniel said.

"Stay here."

Dinner taken care of, bowls in the sink, Jack came back and climbed into bed next to Daniel. Daniel rested his head against Jack's shoulder. They looked up at the ceiling together, touching where they could touch.

"I always wanted a skylight in here," Jack said. Daniel languidly rubbed Jack's knee. After a few moments, Jack said, "Technically, huh?"

Daniel shifted onto his side, rubbed his cheek against Jack's chest, and wrapped his arm around Jack's waist. "It wasn't like this. It was different. Not like this."

Jack rubbed his hair. "You know, I went to a gay bar."

Daniel glanced up at him. "Why?"

Jack twitched one eyebrow. "Because I was curious," he said, and when Daniel pinched him, he smiled and kissed the top of Daniel's head. "I don't know, I was trying to understand, I guess. I was asking the wrong questions, too."

Daniel gazed at him for a moment, then softly kissed his chest through his T-shirt. "Did you meet anyone?"

"I met a guy called Donald."

Daniel raised one eyebrow and said, "As in Duck?"

Jack smiled and touched the end of Daniel's nose. "He bought me a drink, I told him I wasn't trying to pick up anybody. That's the long and short of my walk on the wild side."

Daniel stroked his side. "Until now."

"Until now."

"I guess it gets pretty wild now," Daniel said with a sigh. "Wildly fucked up."

Jack rubbed his thumb under Daniel's chin. _Dandelions._ "It's not impossible. Just damned hard. And that's never stopped either of us before."

Daniel smiled softly at him -- his secret, bemused, warm, inviting, satisfied, _Daniel's getting laid,_ no, _Daniel's in love_ smile.

He loved when they were on the same page.

(the end)


End file.
